Authentic Doc From A Civil War Prisoner Camp
This was found during an Ebay auction. Here is the link. It is an incredible story:
Lot of two (photo and hospital pass) circa 1865 Civil War items relating to the Confederate Andersonville Georgia Prison for Union prisoners of war. This prison was largely an outdoor compound where over 12,000 of the 45,000 prisoners interred there died from disease, starvation or blunt weapon execution from the guards. The cdv photo depicts recently liberated prisoner James Reynolds Haun, Private, 103rd PA, Company A. Online research notes his residence by 1890 as Mahoning Township of Lawrence County, PA. He was captured in Plymouth, NC on April 20th, 1864 and left prison on Feb. 28th, 1865. (His Andersonville code number was 160;40242). The photo documents in medical starkness Haun seated with a cloth covering his lap. After being at Andersonville for 10 months and 16 days, He was then hospitalized by the United States government. The second item in this lot is a pass for him to “be absent” from the U.S. General Hospital, Div. 2, Annapolis. It permitted James R. Haun to be absent from April 1st to May 1st, 1865 and is signed by the Asst. Surgeon U.S. Vols, Ex Officer. (Evidently after 30 days he was stable enough to temporarily leave with the expectation of return on May 1st.)
Perhaps, what makes this lot more special is to know what became of James Haun following his abusive imprisonment and subsequent hospitalization. He went on to study law and be accepted to the bar of Clarion County, Pa. After practicing law for two years he realized that this was not what he was meant to do and went on to study medicine and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1867. Dr. James Reynolds Haun overcame all adversity and became the leading and oldest medical practitioner in Edinburg, Mahoning township where he specialized in relieving pain and caring for people whose conditions were desperate.
Now that was an “authentic” doctor!
Wow! I’m an amateur genealogist as well as a retired RN. My great uncle, Almon Feek, starved to death in Danville Prison after being taken prisoner at the Battle of the Monocacy. I found his grave in 2000. I believe I’m the first member of his family who ever visited his grave. A local historian from his neighborhood in upstate NY wrote a book describing the families who’d lived there, who they married, what became of them, etc. When he got to the Feek family, he said he’d been in Danville Prison with Almon and described how he died, no longer brushing away the flies from his face. He chastised him for that, and quotes Almon as saying “What’s the use? They’ll only come again.” He then says, “with such a lack of grit, it is no surprise that he died before the first fall of snow on our prison pen.” The son of a bitch was probably stealing his food.
Good post, great story.